Federal Writers’ Project

E1725

New Deal program government-sponsored arts project

The Federal Writers’ Project was a New Deal initiative that employed thousands of writers during the Great Depression to produce guidebooks, oral histories, and other cultural documentation across the United States.

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Observed surface forms (7)

Surface form	Occurrences
Federal Writers' Project	9
Federal Writers' Project state guides	2
Administration of the Federal Writers’ Project	1
Federal Writers' Project Slave Narrative Collection	1
Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration	1
New Deal cultural programs	1
New Deal cultural projects	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	New Deal program ⓘ government-sponsored arts project ⓘ
aimedAt	creating comprehensive travel guides ⓘ documenting American regional cultures ⓘ preserving oral traditions ⓘ
archivesAt	Library of Congress ⓘ National Archives and Records Administration ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
dissolved	early 1940s ⓘ
employed	editors ⓘ journalists ⓘ researchers ⓘ teachers ⓘ unemployed writers ⓘ
fundedBy	Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 ⓘ
inception	1935 ⓘ
influenced	development of American social history ⓘ documentation of African American history ⓘ public folklore programs in the United States ⓘ
location	all 48 U.S. states of the period ⓘ
mainWork	American Guide Series ⓘ
notableOutput	Life histories of ordinary Americans ⓘ Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves ⓘ children’s books and educational materials ⓘ ethnic and immigrant community studies ⓘ
numberOfEmployees	thousands of workers ⓘ
operatedBy	Works Progress Administration ⓘ Works Progress Administration ⓘ surface form: Works Projects Administration
parentOrganization	Works Progress Administration ⓘ
partOf	Federal Project Number One ⓘ
politicalContext	New Deal ⓘ
produced	city guidebooks ⓘ ethnographic reports ⓘ folklore collections ⓘ local histories ⓘ oral histories ⓘ regional guidebooks ⓘ slave narratives ⓘ state guidebooks ⓘ
purpose	produce cultural and historical documentation of the United States ⓘ provide employment for writers during the Great Depression ⓘ
sponsoredBy	United States government ⓘ surface form: U.S. federal government
supervisedBy	Henry Alsberg ⓘ John D. Newsome ⓘ
timePeriod	Great Depression ⓘ
workField	folklore ⓘ history ⓘ literature ⓘ oral history ⓘ

Referenced by (26)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John D. Newsome → affiliatedWith → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves → associatedWithProgram → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project Slave Narrative Collection

California: A Guide to the Golden State → author → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide → author → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People → author → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

New York: A Guide to the Empire State → authorOrganization → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves → compiledBy → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State → createdBy → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration

California: A Guide to the Golden State → createdByProgram → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide → creator → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

New York: A Guide to the Empire State → creator → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Henry Alsberg → employer → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

Federal Project Number One → hasPart → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

John D. Newsome → notableWork → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Administration of the Federal Writers’ Project

American Guide Series → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

California: A Guide to the Golden State → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: New Deal cultural projects

Henry Alsberg → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: New Deal cultural programs

Historical Records Survey → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

HRS → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

subject surface form: Historical Records Survey

Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project state guides

New York: A Guide to the Empire State → partOf → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project state guides

Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide → producedByProgram → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State → producer → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

Works Progress Administration → program → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

WPA → program → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ

subject surface form: Works Progress Administration

this entity surface form: Federal Writers' Project

American Guide Series → sponsor → Federal Writers’ Project ⓘ